Digital calendars are a part of life for many busy people. A digital calendar enables a user to organize her time by storing calendar items and information related to the calendar items. Digital calendars frequently are included in time and information management software and digital calendar applications, such as Microsoft® Outlook®.
Digital calendar applications commonly include a sharing feature that allows a user to share his digital calendar with others. The user can share his calendar with others in his organization or publish his calendar to people outside the organization. Sharing may be necessary or convenient within an organization to facilitate the scheduling of events or activities such as meetings, group activities, community events, or while working together on projects. For example, digital calendar sharing allows others to view the user's digital calendar and determine when the user is free. While some of these activities are on-going, planning for other events might take only a few weeks or months.
There are several problems with digital calendar sharing in current digital calendar applications. One problem is that once the user enables sharing of her calendar the sharing is unlimited. In other words, once the user has shared her calendar with another person, that person has access to her calendar whether they need it or not. In order to stop this sharing, the user must explicitly remember to “unshare” her calendar with that person.
Another problem with sharing in current digital calendar applications is that the amount of content that other people can view on a user's calendar depends on the level of sharing the user has granted to them and whether the user has used the privacy function (such as a “Private” flag). This functionality can cause a confusing situation if the user desires to share some appointment details with other people but wants to keep some information private. In addition, a problem can arise if the user forgets to use the privacy function and the user forgets he is sharing his calendar with other people.
Another problem is that with current digital calendar applications a user receives no information about who is looking at her calendar or what information has been viewed. Current digital calendar applications inform the user about who his calendar is shared with, but the user receives no feedback if and when another person looks at his calendar. Particularly in an enterprise scenario it is desirable for the user to receive information about whether anyone else has looked at his calendar.